


One Day, Maybe Next Week, I'll Get You.

by goingdownsinging



Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, adoption fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2017-12-03 06:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/695403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goingdownsinging/pseuds/goingdownsinging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Harry’s smile is as warm and bright as the sun and his eyes are shining with adoration for the girl, even in the grim orphanage. Nick looks from Abena to Harry and back again, and suddenly, the twenty-four months and all the money spent on the adoption process don’t even matter anymore."</p><p> </p><p>Harry and Nick adopt a child. Shameless fluff and snapshots of their first six months as parents!</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Day, Maybe Next Week, I'll Get You.

Her name’s Abena, which means the girl is born on a Tuesday, and she’s a bright five year old. She’s all long limbs and bright smiles when Nick sees her on a warm August afternoon. She smiles at Harry like he’s the best thing she’s seen in the years she’s been at the orphanage and honestly, Nick doesn’t blame her. Harry’s smile is as warm and bright as the sun and his eyes are shining with adoration for the girl, even in the grim orphanage. Nick looks from Abena to Harry and back again, and suddenly, the twenty-four months and all the money spent on the adoption process don’t even matter anymore.

\--

Right after Harry had returned from the first trip to Ghana, he’d vowed to return. With the boys or alone, he didn’t care, as long as he could go back and see for himself if all the money raised was making an actual change. Nick remembered the stories and pictures, the videos that had made his chest go tight and eyes tear up, and Harry was dead set on doing this. He went back, year after year, and met the then three year old Abena. 

Abena never knew her dad, and her mum and baby brother both passed away days after her mum gave birth. She loved bright colours and singing songs Harry had never heard of before, and he couldn’t leave the girl behind. Right before he left the orphanage, Harry had given Abena his bright orange beanie, her favourite colour, and promised to come back for her. 

Adoption was something Harry and Nick had talked about before, but they also knew there was a very realistic chance it’d never happen. At thirty-five, Nick was bordering on being too old to become a parent through adoption and they were busy. Agencies double and triple checked their schedules, their family and closest friends, not convinced they’d be able to offer a child the stability of a home. It took them twenty-four long months to get permission and a passport for Abena, and suddenly all that was separating them and their daughter was a final flight to Ghana. 

\--

“Do you like the jacket?” Harry asks, smiling as Abena runs her hands over the bright orange puffa jacket she’s wearing. They just arrived at Heathrow and after getting Abena into jeans and boots on the plane, it’s now impossible to avoid the jacket any longer.

Abena shrugs, but giggles as she catches her reflection in a mirror, her eyes going wide at the colour that’s wrapped around her body. “Can I meet Aimee now?” she asks and Nick shakes his head, blaming her enthusiasm on Aimee’s hair colour, and leaning on the trolley with their bags as he watches the two. “She’s coming over later today, yeah. She’s also bringing Thurston, but we first need to get home,” Nick said, and immediately knows he’s going to be the horrible dad while Harry gets to do all the fun things. 

Nick follows the two outside of the airport and towards the car that’s waiting for them, unable to keep a smile off his face as he watches Harry and their daughter, her hand holding tightly onto Harry’s as she’s skipping beside him.

“Aren’t you tired? We spent ages on the plane!” Harry laughs at the girl’s enthusiasm as he helps her into the car and buckles her seatbelt, all while Nick’s lifting their suitcases from the trolley and into the trunk. They’ve been parents for less than a day now and he’s already turning into _that_ dad. 

But hearing the girl’s reply reminds him once again of why he’s doing all this. “I want to see everything,” she laughs as if it’s the stupidest question Harry could’ve asked her. “And I’m hungry,” Abena says, then suddenly remembering what else she was promised. “Are we going _shopping_?!” 

Nick finally finishes putting their suitcases into the car and slides into the backseat, Abena buckled in between Harry and Nick. If there’s one thing he loves about the girl beside him, it’s that she’s not shy at all. She’s hungry and she’s been promised shopping, and she deserves all the food, clothes and toys in the world.

\--

Over the last twenty-four months, Nick and Harry had tried to show Abena what life in London was like. They’d sent pictures of their house, of the girl’s new room and all their friends, explaining who they were so at least they wouldn’t be complete strangers and hopefully Abena wouldn’t be too overwhelmed. They’d gone all out with pictures and descriptions of what life was like in London, but they’d managed to contain themselves when it came to the girl’s room. 

She is five years old and her own little person, so they last thing Nick and Harry wanted was to make decisions for her. Abena’s new room contains all the basics, including a few clothes in the closet, and they promised she can pick the exact colours she wants on the walls, the clothes she wants in her closet and the books, CDs and toys that should line the walls of the room. At five years old, Nick figured Abena would want to make her own decisions regarding her personal style. 

\--

The agencies had been worried about Nick and Harry’s work schedules, but Nick has a feeling the middle-aged lady that had been on their case since day one would be proud if she could see him now. It’s eight in the morning, six months since the adoption. Harry’s in Paris for interviews and Nick has singlehandedly gotten Abena ready for school. He’s only a tiny bit proud of himself.

“Harry always puts an extra apple in my lunch box,” Abena says as she’s munching on her toast, cup of tea still untouched on the kitchen table. “And extra crisps, sometimes biscuits.” 

If there’s one thing Nick has learned, it’s that kids are mean and use the absence of a parent to their advantage. So instead of asking Abena about the crisps she likes and if she’d rather have chocolate or plain digestives, he puts her lunchbox into her backpack and glances at the clock on the wall, looking very unimpressed with the situation. “You better drink that tea within the next five minutes, else you’ll be late for school, miss.”

Nick doesn’t mind his new work schedule one bit. He quit the breakfast show nearly two years ago, thinking torturing the country first thing in the morning for five years was long enough, and moved back to the evenings. Now he’s on two evenings a week, Annie’s doing another two and they do Fridays together so they can babysit each other’s kids when Harry’s not around. They’re lucky Abena and Rosie are getting along like they’ve been best friends forever and it makes Nick feel less guilty about leaving the girl at Annie’s. 

Ten minutes later, Nick gets Abena out of the house and into the car with minimum effort, and part of him loves that they made the very conscious decision not to adopt a newborn. This is good, amazing even, and he gets to have proper conversations with his daughter on the way to school, if only about the silly boys at school and Rosie’s new shoes. 

“Have fun at school!” Nick grins, Abena sighing as he parks the car across the street. He knows she’d rather be home today because Harry’s coming home later, but he’s not letting her skip class. “And I’ll tell Harry to pick you up in the afternoon, alright?” The girl shrugs, then moving in to give Nick a hug. “Alright, I guess,” she says as she pulls away, then getting out of the car and nearly getting tackled to the ground by Rosie. 

Nick shakes his head. “Girls….” he mumbles, pretending to be annoyed, but he can’t deny that warm feeling in his chest. This is his life now, has been for months, and it’s quite perfect, he’d say.

\--

That afternoon, it’s not Harry, but Nick who’s waiting to pick Abena up from school. There’s some strike going on at the airport in Paris and Harry’s flight was cancelled so he’d gotten on a train instead, but he was still somewhere between Lille and London the last time Nick checked. 

“I’m sorry, love,” Nick says with a sigh as Abena comes running towards him, looking around as if Harry’s hiding somewhere. He can see the disappointment on her face and slips an arm around the girl’s shoulders as they walk towards the car. There’s nothing worse than knowing you’re letting your daughter down, Nick decides. 

Abena crawls into the car and tries to buckle her seatbelt, Nick reaching over to click it into place. “When’s Harry home?” the girl asks as she looks up at Nick with big brown eyes, as if she’s preparing herself for the worst. Only he is coming home and no one’s abandoning anyone here. But before he can tell her so, Nick’s phone buzzes and he quickly gets it from his pocket, lips curling into a smile at the text appearing on screen. “Want to pick him up?” he asks Abena, already putting his phone away and buckling his own seatbelt so he can start the drive to Kings Cross St Pancras. 

By the time they get to the station, the arrivals screen tells them that Harry’s train is due in ten minutes and Nick silently congratulates himself on his fine driving skills. It should’ve taken them half an hour to get there but he managed to get the job done in twenty minutes, not breaking a single speeding limit and finding a parking space seconds after arriving. Abena is standing right beside him, clutching onto his hand and bouncing on her feet as the doors open and the first travellers walk into the hall. Her excitement is contagious and Nick can’t help but grin as he glances down at the girl who’s still wearing her school uniform.

He’s so lost in his thoughts that he misses Harry coming through the doors until Abena’s letting go of his hand, launching herself at a tired looking Harry. Nick has been with the other for years and knows how the endless interviews and tv appearances take their toll, but the bright, excited look in Harry’s eyes as Abena hugs him tightly nearly wipes the exhaustion off his face. Nick briefly considers getting his phone out and taking a picture, but pads over to Harry and their girl instead so he can his arms around both of them. 

“Missed you, dad,” Abena mumbles against Harry’s jacket and Nick tears up at the sound of it. They made the decision to have the girl call them Harry and Nick, if only because Abena is five and knows she wasn’t born out of either of them, her skin colour giving it away to outsiders. It’s her own decision to call Harry dad and Nick’s not jealous. He’s tearing up because he’s ridiculously happy, like she’s just given them a seal of approval.

Harry tightens his grip on Abena and presses a kiss to her hair, smiling bright as the sun. “Missed you too, kid,” he says, then kissing Nick’s cheek. “You too, even though you’re getting all emotional, old man.” Nick scowls but can’t hide how much he loves this, their family, as he guides everyone away from prying eyes at the arrivals hall and out to the car.


End file.
